During the sixth season of cabler
HGTV's
Design
Star we meet Leslie Ezelle, an openly gay mom who says her
crew is the real-life Modern Family.

On the reality competition show, 12
designers compete for their own HGTV design show.

Forty-three-year-old Ezelle is a breast
cancer survivor.

“Breast cancer was actually a
cakewalk,” she told DFW.com.
“They caught it early, and I did six months of radiation and then
waited for enough time to do my reconstruction surgery. After I
started reconstructive surgery, that's when it went downhill. I had
infection after infection. I was in the hospital. I really had a
tough time.”

The former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader
said the experience convinced her to pursue her dream of having her
own TV design show.

Back home in Dallas, she's raising four
kids with her partner.

“We're the real-life Modern Family,”
she said. “I'm in a same-sex relationship, and we're a blended
family. My little girl was born in China, and her little boys are
quite the handful. So it's a pretty entertaining household. Plus we
have a petting zoo. We've got so many living things in this house,
it's crazy. Three dogs, a couple of kitties, turtles, hamsters. I'm
doing a major overhaul of this space so we can make room for the
growing boys.”